London is the world’s second most attractive commercial property market after New York, according to a new survey.

The capital is the only non-US metropolis appearing in the top five of a ranking compiled by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. The other top placed cities were San Francisco, Washington DC and Houston.

London’s ranking — the same as last year — comes as foreign investors, many from the Far East, snapped up the capital’s commercial property on an unprecedented scale. Billions of pounds from China, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea have flooded into the capital pushing office values to levels not seen since before the recession. London now has the world’s biggest office market but ranks behind New York for retail and is only sixth placed for industrial.

The most eye catching deal last year was the £400 million sale of the Battersea Power Station site to a Malaysian consortium.